spay is a surgery to take out the reproductive organs so your dog will not be able to have unwanted puppies.

There, I corrected it for you. I'm all for spaying but let's give the real reason for it. There isn't any proof that spaying lets dogs live longer happier lives. A good diet and exercise will do more for that than spaying will.

actually DAN, there is proof that females who are spayed are MUCH less likley to get mammary tumors and cannot get ovarian cycsts and cancers (which belive me...are no fun and absolutly deadly as they usually dont show any symptoms) spaying also = no payometra, (which can also be deadly) and of course removes all risk of a femal dying during complications of whelping...

in MALES theres limited health benefits, but in females those benefits are huge...

you will notice testicular cancer in an intact male, the testicles will swell and discolor...but ovarian cancer (which almost killed me btw) is not a "visible" cancer, very rarely does it show physical sighns beyond painfull periods, difficulty getting pregnant and abdominal pain... and since dogs cant speak, how will you know if shes cramping?!

spaying will also remove the messy aspect of having an intact dog, your female will no longer bleed or have mood swings which come along with her heat (or period).

it does however also mean she will not be able to have puppies, meaning not only would she not be able to have puppies if you tried to breed her on purpose but also means you dont have to worry about stray male dogs comming into your garden or sitting outside your house, you dont have to worry about her trying to get out to go and see them.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get your dog spayed, she should NOT have puppies, and spaying her is the only surefire way to prevent it.

__________________

I wonder if other dogs think Cresties are members of some weird religious cult?

A spay is technically an ovariohysterectomy, where the uterus and ovaries are removed so that a female can no longer reproduce. They look the same from the outside, but are just no longer able to reproduce. (Just wanted to clarify that in case there was a problem with the language barrier and the OP was picturing something different by the 'removal of the reproductive organs').

actually DAN, there is proof that females who are spayed are MUCH less likley to get mammary tumors and cannot get ovarian cycsts and cancers (which belive me...are no fun and absolutly deadly as they usually dont show any symptoms) spaying also = no payometra, (which can also be deadly) and of course removes all risk of a femal dying during complications of whelping...

in MALES theres limited health benefits, but in females those benefits are huge...

you will notice testicular cancer in an intact male, the testicles will swell and discolor...but ovarian cancer (which almost killed me btw) is not a "visible" cancer, very rarely does it show physical sighns beyond painfull periods, difficulty getting pregnant and abdominal pain... and since dogs cant speak, how will you know if shes cramping?!

spaying will also remove the messy aspect of having an intact dog, your female will no longer bleed or have mood swings which come along with her heat (or period).

it does however also mean she will not be able to have puppies, meaning not only would she not be able to have puppies if you tried to breed her on purpose but also means you dont have to worry about stray male dogs comming into your garden or sitting outside your house, you dont have to worry about her trying to get out to go and see them.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get your dog spayed, she should NOT have puppies, and spaying her is the only surefire way to prevent it.

This. A female should probably not be spayed before her first heat, because those hormones encourage the growth plates to come together. However, the more heats a female is allowed to have the more likey they will get pyometra.

A spayed female will not come into heat, so there is no worry of accidental pregnancies.

This. And since you have to ask what spay means, and judging by your other question (if you can breed a mix with a pure bred and get pure bred pups) you are not responsible enough to prevent pregnancies if she is not spayed.

__________________Ella: 3 year old female ferretNacho: ~8 year old male ferretGoodbye, Rosey. You were the best girl I could have asked for. 10/15/96-03/08/13

actually DAN, there is proof that females who are spayed are MUCH less likley to get mammary tumors and cannot get ovarian cycsts and cancers (which belive me...are no fun and absolutly deadly as they usually dont show any symptoms) spaying also = no payometra, (which can also be deadly) and of course removes all risk of a femal dying during complications of whelping...

in MALES theres limited health benefits, but in females those benefits are huge...

imo, it still depends. spayed females are at higher risk of osteosarcoma (if that's a risk in your breed- a rottweiler bitch spayed at six months has something like a one in four chance of getting osteo.) and hemangiosarcoma, which is pretty much a death sentence.

in all honesty i'm not knowledgeable to speak to how much of a risk mammary tumors are. i don't know the rate of metastasis and what the percentage of tumors that are actually cancer are.

i agree that most females should be spayed, but i still object to the black/white attitude that i see so often.